Have come into a 4 X 5 Burke & James equipped with nice 135 mm Optar (f4.7) one website puts filter at 38mm threaded or 1.5 Inch slip on. Is that for Series VI filters? Also, is that a Gel filter adapter available? Thanks for the assist as I try to go junior Ansel Adams.

donjacob

That's correct: 38mm/1.5 inch slip-on for the 135/f4.7, series VI. Don't know about gel filter adapter.

Thanks fir your confirmation...now to locate the filters...

I bought most of my series VI filters at camera shows over the years, but these aren't what they used to be, at least in my area. A few I bought from retired photographers disposing of their equipment. I managed to get a fairly complete set of B/W contrast filters, plus UV and polarizing, close-up and tele- sets, and some color correction ones, too. I also have the series VI slip rings for each of my lenses, and lens hoods.

These items come up from time to time on the auction site, and if camera shows are still held where you live then try those, too. Good luck!

I a m prowling around Ebay...not many camera shows around here anymore. But the quest and the journey is a lot of the fun!

About a hundred or so years ago I found a 3 inch square filter holder with 6 filter sheaths on ebay. It take 2 sheaths to fit snugly in the frame. It has Tiffen Series 8 on the lens ring with three 6-32 screws to secure it to the lens. A Cokin adapter can be used also with some stepping rings to adapt to a series 6 filter ring, http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=1727&highlight=series+filter . I have purchased series holders 1-2 mm larger than the the one I needed and bonded felt to the inside so they would fit the lens snugly as the size I needed was nowhere to be found.

Another approach is to acquire (somehow, somewhere) an adapter ring(s), i.e., a step-ring, that converts the 44mm series VI thread to a 49, 52, or 55mm thread. This opens up a range of possibilities to use these 35mm camera accessory thread sizes with filters that you may already own, or accessories that will be easier to find than straight series VI stuff. Again, I bought such adapter rings at camera shows some years ago. It's something to keep in mind, perhaps.

Series adapter rings and filters seem to show up randomly
or sometimes not at all on eBay, I managed to get a huge set of Series 9 filters adapters and sets of Series 7 recently.
You just have to keep looking.

Well, seems 38mm Series VI adapters don't work. Got a 1-1/2" slip on...too small--even spreading the tabs. Got an Ednalite 38mm. It is the exact same size as the outer lens ring...

So is it 37.5 mm? I have been losing freight money shipping these things back.
HELP???

Well, if 38mm doesn't fit/too small, then 37.5mm surely won't!

I re-examined my Optar f4.7/135mm and the 38mm/1.5in. series VI slip ring is an exact fit for my lens. If your Optar is "threaded," as you said in your initial post, then it's different from mine. None of my Optar lenses (68, 101, 135, 203) have threads on the front element (except for the shutter mounting threads). If your front element has any external threads, then we are talking about different things here!

Is there something I'm not grasping about this?

I found all my Series IV stuff from one Ebay source:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Lenses-Filters-/78997/m.html?item=121595340518&_ssn=octsurprise

Good luck.

To further help (or confuse?) matters, Kodak made series VI slip rings in these sizes (in inches/fractions): 1-1/4, 1-5/16, 1-3/8, 1-13/32, 1-7/16, 1-15/32, 1-1/2, 1-9/16, 1-5/8, 1-21/32. (whew!). My source is a Kodak brochure no. A3-19, dated 1-52, "Kodak Filters and other Lens Attachments." In all, Kodak made slip rings in 36 different sizes, from series IV to series VIII, the smallest 5/8" to the largest 2-5/8".

My 135mm f4.7 Optar in a#2 Graphex full sync shutter measures 37.95mm/1.496 inch at the front element barrel. The internal threads in the front element barrel are for the lens cell retainer not filters. The #2 Graphex non flash sync and #2 Graphex X versions should have the same size lens barrel and elements.
Series VI (6) slip on adapters can be adjusted ±.5mm without problems/damage to the adapter. Adjust each tab separately.
Optar lens are rebadged Wollensak Raptar lens from 1947 through the mid 1960"s after that they are Rodenstock Optar.
Which version do you have?
What shutter is it in?

OK...all of the responses have been super. I am going to try a 38 mm1-1/2" slip-over and see what happens. Got to believe the fault lies not in the lens ring, but within me (Sorry, Will S!).